Q 24N — Photographs of Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez smiling alongside U.S. President Donald Trump have prompted frustration among Venezuelans who fear that the prospect of democratic change is being pushed aside in favor of energy agreements and political stability.
The meeting took place on the night of September 22 at a reception Trump hosted for foreign leaders attending the United Nations General Assembly’s high-level week. Images released by the Venezuelan presidency showed the two leaders seated before their countries’ flags. Rodríguez flashed a victory sign in one photograph, while Trump gave a thumbs-up in another.
The White House confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller also attended. The press was not granted access, and Washington did not immediately provide a detailed account of the discussion, leaving Venezuela to shape much of the public narrative.
Rodríguez described the encounter as historic. It was the first known face-to-face meeting between a U.S. president and a Venezuelan leader in more than 11 years.
The meeting followed a major energy agreement that Washington has promoted as one of the largest oil deals in history, granting access to tens of billions of barrels of Venezuelan reserves. It also came nearly nine months after U.S. forces captured and removed Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela on January 3.
Images of the cordial encounter have fueled concerns that Washington is prioritizing energy interests over elections and democratic change in Venezuela.
For critics, the warm images from New York were especially painful because they coincided with opposition leader María Corina Machado’s seventh unsuccessful attempt to return to Venezuela. Machado is currently in exile in Panama.
Journalist Luz Mely Reyes, co-founder of the Venezuelan news outlet Efecto Cocuyo, said the contrast suggested that the Trump administration was following its own strategy, centered on controlling and profiting from Venezuela’s energy resources rather than making a democratic transition its immediate priority.
Reyes also warned that expanded oil production would not quickly improve living conditions. Rebuilding the industry would take time, she argued, while new business structures could make the redistribution of oil revenue more difficult.
Members of the Venezuelan diaspora demonstrated near the UN headquarters, rejecting Rodríguez’s presence and demanding a presidential election. Protesters were detained during the gathering.
In Miami, Venezuelans interviewed on the street expressed hurt and disbelief. “I feel frustrated, I feel wounded,” Helene Villalonga said. Another Venezuelan argued that Rodríguez should be detained like Maduro, describing her as partly responsible for abuses committed under his rule.
The reaction reflects a broader sense of an unfulfilled promise. After Maduro’s capture, many Venezuelans believed the country was entering a political transition that would restore democracy. Instead, Rodríguez—Maduro’s former vice president and the official who inherited the government apparatus—has emerged as Washington’s principal counterpart.
The Venezuelan opposition, which says voting records prove it won the 2024 presidential election, was absent from the meeting. For critics, the cordial photographs released by Venezuela convey continuity rather than political change.
Opposition politician Andrés Velásquez said the central issue for Venezuelans is the establishment of a firm date for presidential elections. Closer commercial relations, he argued, do not confer legitimacy on the current authorities.
Questions also remain about Rodríguez’s legal mandate. Her interim administration was meant to serve as a 180-day bridge toward elections, but that period expired without a vote being scheduled. The U.S. has described its policy in three stages—stabilization, recovery and transition—without setting clear deadlines.
Not every observer viewed the meeting as a turning point. Venezuelan economist Juan Nagel cautioned against attaching too much significance to the photographs, saying the encounter had not changed the country’s underlying challenges.
Some analysts in Venezuela and the United States consider negotiations with Rodríguez the only practical route for addressing the country’s long-running collapse after Maduro’s removal.
For many Venezuelans, talks that focus on oil while leaving elections off the agenda reinforce a bitter conclusion: the transition they expected has once again been postponed.